


Confidence is Key

by 00trumpet



Series: Kelley's The Only Soccer Player AU [1]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 07:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13970664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00trumpet/pseuds/00trumpet
Summary: Alex has had a bad day and Kelley is always in a good mood, so when they’re seated next to each other on a plane, Alex thinks it’s going to be the worst flight of her life. (But in reality, it’ll be the best.)AKA Kelley is a professional soccer player for LA and Alex is a bigger fan than she’s leading on.





	Confidence is Key

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to my good friend Marissa, AKA, sugarfile on tumblr.

_ Take Off _

 

The only thing that could possibly make Alex’s flight worse, is the overly-chipper girl packing her bags into the overhead compartment. (Save for a small purse, that goes underneath the seat in front of her, and several different candies that she stuffs into the seat pocket.)

“Hey!” The girl to the right of her smiles as she tightens down her seatbelt. “What’s bringing you to the wonderful city of LA?” 

“I live there,” is all Alex says before turning back to her book.

“Cool! Me too.” The girl glances around their plane before turning back to Alex. “Pretty full flight, huh?” 

“Yeah.”

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?”

“Not on days like this.” Alex turns to the next page in her book. 

“ _ Tell _ me about it.” The girl pushes her glasses up further on her nose. “I couldn’t even get my contacts to stick this morning,” she laughs good-naturedly. “Hence the glasses,” she gestures to her own face. “Usually I wouldn’t be caught  _ dead _ in these things. Can’t play in them, y’know?”

_ Play? _ Alex turns her head and looks at the girl for the first time. Really looks at her. “Oh my god.” 

The girl raises an eyebrow, confused.

“Oh my god, you’re Kelley O’Hara.”

Kelley grins again with a light laugh. “Yeah, are you a fan?”

“No, no,” Alex shakes her head quickly. “Well,  _ yeah _ , but I’m a writer. A sports writer. A journalist.”

“Oh really?” Kelley’s grin grows brighter which Alex didn’t think was possible. (Her own cheeks hurt from how much Kelley has smiled.)

“Yeah, I work with the Los Angeles ESPN station.” 

“Cool, I-- well,” Kelley pauses. “You could probably guess.”

“The LA Stars,” Alex finishes for her. “Yeah.”

“Yep. New gig.” Kelley shrugs. “Just the next exciting chapter in this wonderful story we call life.” 

“Wow, I,” Alex sighs and closes her book. “I’m sorry for being kind of a jerk before. I had--”

“Yeah, a rough day.” Kelley gives Alex a warm, heartfelt smile. “No big deal, we all have rough days.” 

Alex nods. “Well so far I have totally snubbed you, snapped at you, and then gawked over you. And we’ve only known each other for five minutes.”

Kelley opens her mouth to respond as a flight attendant walks by. “Please turn your devices off or to airplane mode,” he says as he walks by, checking seatbelts and overhead compartment latches. 

“Could we just,” Alex shakes her head. “Start over maybe?” 

Kelley unbuckles her seatbelt and stands, getting the attention of three different flight attendants who turn and ask her to  _ please be seated ma’am _ . “It’s cool, it’s cool,” she says, raising her hands in defense. “Just had to grab something.” She opens their compartment and pulls out her bag, only to put it back in. She then leans down and pulls out her candy, then replaces it in the seat pocket. She does the same with her purse. 

Alex gives her a questioning glance as Kelley finally takes her seat and clips her seatbelt. 

“Hey!” Kelley smiles as she tightens down her seatbelt. “What’s bringing you to the wonderful city of LA?” 

Alex offers a small smile with hint of blush. (She hopes that it’s covered by her makeup, but it probably isn’t.) “I live there,” she repeats, with a much nicer tone than before.

“Really? Awesome, me too.” Kelley holds her hand out to Alex. “I’m Kelley, Kelley O’Hara.”

“Alex, Alex Morgan.” Alex takes her hand and shakes it. “I’m sorry for earlier,” she starts to say but Kelley just cuts her off.

“Earlier?” Kelley gives her a look of mock confusion. “I apologize if I’m mistaken, but I don’t believe we’ve ever met before.” Kelley gives her a wink to show she’s only joking, making Alex break out into a bright smile. 

“No, no,” Alex shakes her head. “The mistake is all mine. See, I’m a sports reporter, so I’ve known about you for awhile. The apology was for,” Alex pauses.  _ Spending the last five years thirsting over you on instagram. _ “The transfer,” she says.

“Ah,” Kelley shrugs. “No big deal, really.” She smiles that bright smile that Alex is quickly realizing is synonymous with Kelley herself. (And not just her instagram photos.)

-

As soon as the wheels start going faster than a slow roll, Alex is gripping the armrests until her knuckles are white. 

“You okay?” Kelley asks, genuine concern in her voice. 

Alex nods without responding, trying to take a deep breath. 

Kelley reaches a hand over to their shared armrest and rests her fingers calmly over Alex’s hand. “It'll be okay,” she says in a steady voice. “I promise it'll be okay.” 

Alex nods again and lets her fingers ease up a bit underneath Kelley's hand. Kelley takes it as an opportunity and holds onto Alex’s fingers, squeezing them gently. 

“I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you.”

Alex takes a real deep breath this time and some of the color returns to her face as they rise into the air (even though this is the worst part). “Thank you,” Alex gives Kelley a weak smile as they continue to gain altitude. “Sorry, I always get worried during takeoff.” There's a slight bump as they level off and Alex squeezes Kelley’s hand before she can even think about it. “And turbulence.”

“It's cool.” Kelley's warm smile makes Alex feel safe. (The hand-holding doesn't hurt either.)

“I'm okay,” Alex says, quickly pulling her hand out of Kelley’s. 

“Okay. I'm happy to help, not every day you get to hold hands with a pretty girl.” 

Alex can feel her cheeks heat up as she drops her eyes to her knees and chokes out a light laugh.  _ It's not every day you hold hands with your favorite athlete/the hottest woman in the world. But I probably shouldn't say that out loud.  _ She smiles instead, looking up at Kelley before pulling her book out of the seat pocket and pretending to read it until she can breathe steadily again. 

 

\---

 

_ Hour One _

 

_ Every _ soccer fan does their fair share of instagram stalking, right? Right. Not just the ones who think that player is really cute or make  _ now that she’ll be in the city, we could totally date one day _ jokes or literally _ fought  _ (it was just an arm wrestle, but it was against Mark who may very well be the strongest guy in their office, and she did break a sweat) to write the  _ Kelley O”Hara Becomes LAFC’s Newest Edition _ article. Not just those fans. (Or at least that’s what Alex tells herself.)

\- 

“So why were you in Chicago? You played for Sky Blue before LA,” Alex says, trying to make the most of the five-hour plane ride with the girl of her dreams.

“You’ve done your research?” Kelley asks teasingly.

Alex feels her cheeks warm and she looks down at her lap to avoid Kelley’s eyes. “It’s my, well, my,” Alex swallows. “It’s my job.”  _ Smooth, Alex. Smooth.  _

Kelley smirks at Alex’s obvious embarrassment. “Yeah, I get it. It’s  _ my _ job to look this hot.” She waits for a response but it’s obvious that Alex isn’t going to give one. “The glasses don’t help though,” she shrugs. 

“I think they look good,” Alex offers, looking back up. 

“I think you look good.”

Alex smiles and manages to keep her cool this time. “Thanks, you’re not too bad yourself.” Alex tries to read her book but she can’t ignore the way Kelley looks over every few minutes. “Need something?” Alex looks over as she sets her book down on her lap. 

“Me?” Kelley smiles, amused. “Nah, just bored.”

“Can I help?”

Kelley shrugs. “Whatcha reading?” 

Alex shows the front cover to Kelley, who reads it aloud.

“ _ Five Steps to Happiness _ ?” She squints to read the author’s name. “By Tobin Heath?” 

“Yeah, it’s a whole craze right now.” Alex sets the book back down on her lap. “Supposed to be crazy good.”

“Does the author have anything else out?”

“I think she wrote a collection of poems?” Alex turns the book over to read the back. “Yeah. It’s called  _ Busy Streets Make Lonely People _ .”

Kelley nods and relaxes against her seat. “What do you think of the book?”

“Seems okay,” Alex says. “Supposedly anyone who reads it can’t put it down.”

“What about you?” 

“Well,” Alex lets out a small laugh. “I haven’t really gotten a chance to read it, have I?”

“Oh,” Kelley looks away sheepishly. “My bad.” 

“It’s cool,” Alex grins and bumps Kelley lightly with her elbow. “I’ll let you know if it’s any good.”

 

\---

 

_ Hour Two _

 

Alex taps Kelley on the shoulder, who pulls off her headphones (with yet another smile). 

“Can I get by?” She points up the aisle. “Small bladder.”

“Oh yeah, right, of course.” Kelley unbuckles her seatbelt quickly and moves out of the way for Alex to pass. She decides to stand and stretch her legs a bit while waiting.

“Back,” Alex says, tapping Kelley’s shoulder. She gives Kelley a sweet smile as they take their seats again. 

“So why the bad day?” Kelley asks, leaning to bump shoulders with Alex. 

Alex just shakes her head. “No reason.” 

“You sure? I've been told I'm an awfully good listener.”

Alex smiles but shakes her head again. “Just work stuff.” 

Kelley nods. “I had a layover, by the way.”

Alex turns her head to the side as she looks at Kelley. “Hm?”

“I was in Chicago for a layover,” Kelley says again. “I spent a couple weeks in New Jersey with friends and getting the last of the stuff I left behind when I moved.”

“Oh,” Alex nods. “Cool. Was it hard leaving Sky Blue?” 

Kelley just smiles before responding coolly. “Is this my _ plane buddy _ Alex or  _ sports reporter _ Alex asking?”

Alex grins. “Both?”

“Nuh-uh.” Kelley shakes her head. “You've gotta be my friend before you get any inside scoops.”

“Fine, fine.” She lets out a dramatic sigh as she picks her book back up. 

Kelley waits a moment before speaking again. “You know, you're really bad at taking hints.”

Alex looks over, confused.

“Oh come on,” Kelley laughs. “I take  _ plenty _ of flights and road trips with my job, do you really think I didn’t bring anything to pass the time?” She waits for Alex to respond, but all she gets an eyebrow raise. “Unless  _ I’m _ the oblivious one and you  _ really _ don’t wanna talk to me, I don’t get it. I’m blatantly flirting with you.”

Alex swallows before responding because there is  _ No. Way. _  that her crush (well, if you call being a huge fan a crush) is  _ literally _ telling her that she’s trying to flirt. “I, uhm,” Alex coughs. “I’ve heard you’re kind of a flirt in general, so I guess I just--”

Kelley rolls her eyes and cuts Alex off with a laugh. “I’m not even gonna ask where you heard that. When you’re a pro, everything’s out there.” 

Alex’s eyes widen and she instantly feels bad because she’s  _ sure _ the last thing Kelley wants is to talk to some huge fan who already knows everything about her. 

“I’m a huge flirt. With everyone,” she admits. “But usually I at  _ least _ get a good conversation out of it.”

“My apologies,” Alex says, closing her book. (Again. She’s still only on page 3.) “Why don’t you tell me what  _ your  _ day was like?”

“Well,” Kelley relaxes into her seat with a new sense of confidence (mostly from the gratification of getting Alex to talk to her). “I had to say bye to everyone,  _ again _ . Which wasn’t fun.” She looks to Alex again. “Plane buddy Alex or reporter Alex?”

Alex smiles. “Plane buddy. Everything’s off the record.”

“Cool. So, like I said, not fun. Plus I had a lunch with them planned because I was going to fly out tomorrow, but my agent wants me in LA by tomorrow morning, which she didn’t tell me until 3pm today.” Kelley rolls her eyes. “So I ended up getting this super late flight because it was the earliest one they had that would get me there by ten tomorrow.” She looks at Alex, who seems to be genuinely listening to her. “But I got to meet you because of it, so that can’t be too bad.”

“Have to agree,” Alex says. 

Kelley’s eyes light up at Alex’s response and she continues her story. “Well, obviously there were lots of tears and heartfelt goodbyes because, y’know,” she shrugs as her face falls. “I spent three years there. They were my frat daddies.”

Alex tries to hold in a laugh but she can’t help it. 

“You know about that too?” Kelley asks with a coy smile.

Alex nods. “And watermelon Andria. And Brooklyn the foster dog.”

“How much exactly do you know about me?” Kelley’s smile lets Alex know she isn’t annoyed, but Alex still  feels awkward about it.

“It’s my job,” she defends.

“ESPN has you writing articles on my foster dog?”

“No,” she looks down to avoid Kelley’s eyes.

“Relax.” Kelley smiles playfully. “I think it’s cute.”

Alex nods and picks her book back up. “I’m gonna read for a bit.”

“Alright, I’ll probably take a nap.” She reclines her seat as much as it can and crosses her arms over her chest. “The only thing these glasses are better than contacts for.”

_ The glasses are hot, _ Alex thinks to herself. (If she had Kelley’s confidence, she would just say it. But Alex isn’t even as confident about what her  _ name  _ is as Kelley is about...pretty much everything.)

 

\---

 

_ Hour Three _

 

When Kelley wakes up from her nap, Alex is sound asleep next to her. She smiles, taking the book out of Alex’s hands and tucking it into the seat pocket for her. 

A flight attendant comes by a few minutes later with a drink cart. Kelley takes a cup of coffee and sips at it while trying to preoccupy herself with a game on her phone until a different flight attendant passes by. 

“Excuse me? Can I get the wifi password please?” 

The flight attendant smiles and walks Kelley through the steps for paying for and connecting to the wifi. Kelley tries to talk herself out of it, but not a minute later, she’s googling  _ Alex Morgan ESPN _ . (It’s only fair that they both do their research, right?)

-

“Well hey sleepyhead,” Kelley says as Alex stirs awake. “How was the nap?”

Alex looks at her watch and lets out a small groan. “Not long enough.”

“That sucks.” Kelley nods sympathetically. She reaches into the pocket in front of her to pull out a ring pop. “Want one?”

“Sure,” Alex reaches out but Kelley doesn’t hand it over.

“As long as you promise not to slip this into an article about  _ How the best of the best stay fit in the off season _ .” 

That phrasing is far too familiar for Alex’s liking (It’s her own words. An article from about a year ago that she wrote, but she can’t think of why Kelley would know that.), but she just brushes it off. “Will do.” She reaches out to take the candy. “You don’t even know if I write about the NWSL.” 

Kelley nods, making sure to keep a straight face. “Okay, fair enough.” She opens her own ring pop before deciding to continue messing with Alex. “I’m glad I’m in  _ impeccable shape _ ,” she smiles, unable to help herself. “ _ With a body like this, it’s no wonder I hold the beep test record for every team I’ve ever played on _ .”

Alex swallows and tries to act like she doesn’t know those words. “You’re awfully confident in yourself, huh?” 

“Oh trust me,” Kelley smiles. “I’m not the only one saying this stuff.” She shrugs as she picks up her phone and holds it out to Alex, where an article that she would recognize anywhere fills the screen. “ _ Los Angeles will be lucky to have me, and not just because of these abs. _ ”

Alex looks mortified as she reads the words that Kelley is saying. 

“It’s cool dude,” Kelley laughs as she pulls her phone back. “I’m flattered, really.” She starts to tug her sweatshirt off and her shirt rides up with it, giving Alex a good look at the abs she mentioned in her article.

_ So they’re definitely real. _ She swallows hard and looks away, cursing Kelley for doing that on purpose. (She’s hasn’t even known Kelley for a full three hours, but she just  _ knows _ it’s something she would do on purpose.)

“Thanks for all the praise,” Kelley says as she folds her sweatshirt and stands to put it in the overhead compartment. “You sure know how to boost an ego.”

“I can’t believe you googled me,” Alex says once she can finally find her voice. (Kelley reaching to put her jacket away, letting her shirt pull up again, certainly didn’t help.)

“Oh please,” Kelley waves her off. “My whole life can be googled. I would’ve stalked your instagram, too, if it wasn’t private.”

Alex decides not to mention that a million fans would know if Kelley followed her (she figures Kelley probably knows that) and pulls her phone out. She has Kelley help her connect the wifi and then hands over her phone, profile already pulled up. 

Kelley grins as she takes the phone. “You sure? Just because my life’s all out there doesn’t,” Kelley pauses. “Doesn’t mean you have to let me look at yours.”

Alex shrugs. “It’s really okay.”

Kelley frowns. “Alex, I’ve hardly met you. I know what it’s like to have your whole life online and not much of a say in who sees it. I’m sorry for googling you, I shouldn’t have.” She tries to hand the phone back to Alex but she just shakes her head.

Alex smiles and pushes the phone back into Kelley’s hands. “It’s just an instagram, Kell. It’s only private because I have some exes that I would rather not deal with.”

Kelley gives Alex a small smile and takes the phone back. “So you come with baggage, then? Crazy exes?”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Just read.”

-

“So what’s the take away?” Alex asks  as Kelley hands her phone over. 

“You’re really cute, you’re a big fan of coffee shops, you’re a bigger soccer fan than you seem to be letting on, which I didn’t think to be possible,” she pauses as Alex starts to look flustered. “Should I keep going?”

Alex nods.

“And, if I’m correct,” Kelley purses her lip as she squints at Alex, ready to judge her reaction. “You’re single.”

“I am,” Alex says, doing her best not to blush or look away.

“Good.”

“Good?” Alex can’t hide the surprise in her voice as Kelley smirks. 

“Yeah, good.”

 

\---

 

_ Hour Four _

 

“When am I gonna get to hear about why your day was so awful?”

Alex tilts her head. “What do you mean?”

Kelley rolls her eyes. “You said you had a rough day, can I hear about it?”

“Sure.” Alex gives Kelley a small smile. “So, as you know, I write for the NWSL.”

Kelley nods along, listening intently.

“Well, word up the grapevine is there’s gonna be some blockbuster trade, soon. And Chicago is supposed to be a key part, but the best I could get was Julie Johnston saying saying she was proud of the NWSL for its growth and Alyssa saying that she is happy to be a part of such an incredible league.” Alex groans. “Neither of which are really quotable material.”

“I’m sorry, Al.” Kelley gives her a sympathetic look. “Wish I had some insider scoop to offer, but,” she holds her hands out, palm up. “They don’t tell me anything.”

Alex nods. “Yeah, I get it. And then I ended up having to get this stupidly late flight--” she cuts herself off with a sigh. “Who gets on a five hour flight at seven pm? Willingly?”

Kelley smiles and shrugs. “Why’d you end up on such a late flight, anyway?”

“I had a meeting scheduled with the Coach  _ and _ the owner of the Red Stars for dinner last night, but they both cancelled on me. I stayed up till nearly four am trying to piece together an article and then slept through my flight at eight. This was the first one they could get me on.”

“Wow, that’s,” Kelley frowns. “That’s really shitty of them.”

Alex laughs. “You’re telling me.”

“So,” Kelley chews on her bottom lip, trying to find a way to lighten the subject. “You gonna let me follow you on instagram, or what?”

“Oh,” Alex nods. “I just figured you just wanted to see my posts, and then you did, so,” she trails off. 

“Well how am I gonna be able to see future posts if you don’t accept my follow request?” Kelley smiles. 

“You know, like, fans can see that. Right?”

Kelley rolls her eyes. “Oh please, if I was worried about fans seeing everyone I follow, I just wouldn’t have an instagram.” She looks at Alex who still hasn’t reached for her phone. “Unless, you don’t want fans to see me follow you?”

“No, no,” Alex smiles. “It’s cool, I just wanted to make sure.”

Kelley shrugs. “Hell, I don’t care anymore.” she reaches for her own phone. “Take a couple selfies with me so we can post one.”

“What?”

Kelley smiles as she holds her phone up. “Come on, as a memento for when I met my favorite journalist.”

“Favorite?”

Kelley laughs. “I’ve been waiting forever for someone to recognize how valuable my abs are.”

-

They settle on a picture with the dog filter where Alex is grinning and Kelley is looking at her like she’s the brightest star in the sky. (At least, that’s what it looks like to Alex.)

Kelley says she ought to caption it herself and Alex doesn’t see any problems with that. 

Until she sees Kelley’s caption.

_ Met the cutest journalist today. Now just hoping we can hang out in a setting other than a cramped plane. #ShesHotterInPerson  _

“No,” is all Alex says when she sees it on her timeline a few minutes later. (But she knows it’s already too late.) “There are already three  _ are you dating? _ comments.”

Kelley grins. “Happens more often than you’d think. Anytime I post a picture with someone who’s not a sibling, I get at least a dozen of those.”

Alex just shakes her head. 

“Besides, it would be worse if I deleted it or changed the caption. I find it’s best just to let them go crazy.”

Alex nods understandingly. She looks down to her phone, where nearly a dozen follow requests are already lighting up the screen. She holds it out to Kelley who just laughs. 

“Sorry Al, I can take it down if you’d really like me to.”

“Nah.” Alex looks down at her phone and starts to clear out the follow requests. She opens instagram and looks at the post, writing a comment. 

_ You’re not too bad yourself ;) _

Alex smiles up to Kelley, who watched her post the comment. “It is a good picture.”

-

“Okay, be honest with me.”

“Hm?” Kelley looks up from her sudoku book, her glasses on the tip of her nose.

“You look like a grandmother.”

Kelley rolls her eyes and slides the glasses up to a normal resting place. “That just happens because these are too loose, I’ve had them for a long time.”

“ _ Suuure _ ,” Alex says, unconvinced.

“Anyway, what were you asking about?”

“Do you flirt with  _ every _ girl that you sit next to on a plane?”

“No,” Kelley laughs and closes her sudoku book, sliding the pencil behind her ear. “No I do not. Just the cute ones.”

Alex doesn’t even have time to think about how god damn cute Kelley looks with the pencil lopsidedly hanging from her ear because her heart is beating out of her chest. “Why me?”

“You’re cute,” Kelley says, as if it was as obvious as the sky was blue or their seats were grey. 

“But, not everything’s about looks,” Alex argues. “I’m sure you have beautiful girls fawning over you all the time and I’m, well,” she laughs in spite of herself. “You’ve read my articles, and I’m not much better.”

Kelley grins. “You’re cute when you ramble.”

“I wasn’t rambling.”

“You’re cute when you defend yourself.”

Alex huffs and turns away from Kelley, towards the front of the plane. “Nevermind.”

“Nah, Al,” Kelley reaches out for Alex’s hand and tugs on it until Alex turns to face her. “I don’t know, call it fate or destiny, but,” she flicks her eyes down to wear Alex’s hand is in hers and smiles. “Neither of us were supposed to be on  _ this _ flight, or even leave this day. Neither of us likes late-night flights. This is a big, crowded plane, and we ended up sitting next to each other.” Kelley stops to take a breath. “I know I’m a bit of a flirt, but I’m also a hell of a romantic. And I’ve got this crazy feeling in my gut that you’re gonna be in my future as more than just a reporter.”

Alex can’t help but smile from ear-to-ear because when her day started, this was the  _ last _ thing she expected. “I think that gut feeling might be contagious.”

Kelley grins and pulls her pencil down from her ear before opening her sudoku book again. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

 

\---

 

_ Hour Five _

 

“So you believe in destiny, huh?”

Kelley smiles at Alex, who’s still only about ten pages into her book. “Weren’t you gonna let me know if that book was worth reading?”

Alex shrugs. “I guess I’ll have to let you know some other time.”

\- 

Alex feels her phone buzz for what feels like the millionth time since Kelley posted the picture. “Jeez,” she mumbles, handing her phone over to Kelley. “Can you, like, stop that.”

Kelley laughs as Alex leans onto her shoulder. “And what do you expect me to do?”

“Turn it off of private, then they can just follow me and it won’t buzz every two seconds.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Alex holds her hand up with her thumb out and Kelley rolls her eyes, using Alex’s thumb to unlock the phone and then going into instagram to change the account to public. 

“Can I post a cute picture of you on your account?” 

Alex shakes her head. 

"What about a cute picture of me?"

Alex shakes her head again. “Why is it so bright in here? I am exhausted.”

Kelley smiles and hands over an eye mask. “Here, take a nap.” 

Alex squeezes her eyes together and opens them again before taking the mask from Kelley. She leans back against her seat and lets out a deep breath.

“Damn,” Kelley says with a sigh.

“Hm?”

“If I’d known you wouldn’t lean on me, I wouldn’t have given you the mask. My arm is cold now,” she says as if it’s the only reason she could possibly want Alex to rest against her.

Alex thinks about mentioning the fact that Kelley has a sweatshirt in the overhead compartment, but that solution doesn’t make her smile the same way leaning against Kelley does, so she simply leans back over to rest on Kelley’s shoulder. “Better?”

“Much.” 

-

Kelley tries to kill the time until Alex wakes up in every way she can think of that won’t bother Alex. (Which is essentially just one-handed candy crush and scrolling through instagram.) Eventually, she starts snapping pictures of Alex asleep on her shoulder because  _ jeez, this has gotta be the cutest girl in the world.  _

After a few more minutes she opens snapchat and takes the perfect picture where Alex is sound asleep on her shoulder and Kelley has the brightest grin on her face. She silently thanks her agent for suggesting she keep her snapchat private as she posts a picture of Alex with the caption  _ Sound asleep. _ and the  _ ZZZ _ emoji placed above her head. (She’s sure Alex will pretend to be annoyed about it later, but she’s willing to deal with it.)

 

\---

 

_ Landing _

 

As soon as the plane starts bouncing, Alex jumps awake. 

“Hey, shh,” Kelley reaches her hand out over Alex’s. “You’re okay, I’ve got you.”

Alex nods as she pulls the sleep mask off with her other hand. “Thanks.” Kelley squeezes her fingers and a warm sense of comfort spreads throughout her whole body. “I should take you on every plane ride,” she jokes.

“Hey,” Kelley shrugs. “I’m down.”

They hit another bump and Alex subconsciously reaches for a more secure grip on Kelley’s hand. 

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Kelley says and Alex swears to whatever higher power there may be that there isn’t a more soothing voice in the world. “Here, breathe with me. In four,” she takes a slow breath in, counting on her fingers. “Hold,” she counts another four beats. “And slow release.”

Alex nods, still holding onto Kelley’s hand. (Not that Kelley’s complaining.) 

“Alright, again,” Kelley says and she does the counts on her fingers for Alex. "One more time?"

They lurch again and Alex’s stomach does a flip as she can feel the plane begin descending. She squeaks out an “okay,” and does another slow breath, without Kelley’s help this time. “Okay,” she repeats, significantly more sure of herself. “Thanks, I’ll have to remember that next time.”

Alex is okay up until the wheels hit the ground and she nearly jumps out of her skin. Kelley reaches her hand over to rub soothing circles into her back and for a second Alex feels herself falling asleep because it’s so relaxing. 

“Thanks, again,” she says as Kelley pulls away and they slow to a roll. 

“Anytime, really.”

-

They make their way off the plane and start towards baggage claim. They stand next to each other waiting for their bags until Kelley gets a call.  _ Can you? _ She mouths, pointing to her bags and Alex nods. She returns a few minutes later with a bright smile. 

“What was that about?”

“What if I told you I could get you,” Kelley pauses to smile. “Information. Insider scoop stuff. And I only ask one thing in return.” She holds up her pointer finger to emphasize her point. 

Alex squints, chewing on her bottom lip. “I would be interested.”

“That was Rory Dames, coach of the Red Stars. I emailed him while you were asleep and he said I could set up a skype interview with you two and the owner.”

Alex’s jaw drops and Kelley relishes in the feeling that she’s the reason Alex’s eyes are shining like they are. “Oh my god, yes, please. What do I owe you?”

“All I ask,” Kelley holds her phone out to Alex. “Is that you upgrade from  _ plane buddy _ Alex and become  _ friend _ Alex. And you give me your phone number.”

The smile that breaks on Alex’s face makes Kelley feel warmer than any lazy afternoon on a beach ever could. “Yes, a million times, yes.” She reaches out and puts her contact into Kelley’s phone. (She makes the contact name say  _ Alex _ with a red heart emoji next to it, and Kelley smiles as she sees Alex type it in.)

Kelley steps forward when she recognizes her luggage and pulls it off of the conveyor belt. “Have you seen yours yet?”

Alex is still beaming as she hands the phone back to Kelley. “Yeah, the grey one right there.” She points to it and before she has a chance to grab it, Kelley is stepping forward to get it for her. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” Kelley flexes her arms, making Alex nearly choke on the water she’s trying to drink. “Gotta use these guns for  _ something _ .”

Alex laughs and they start out of the airport doors together. Alex looks around until she finds the taxi stand and looks to Kelley, who’s ready to head the other way. “Guess this is where we part ways.”

Kelley nods slowly. “Guess so.”

“Let me know about the interview?”

“Of course. You kept up your part of the deal.”

Alex grins. “Well, I should get a cab.”

“I should get to my driver.”

“Call me?”

Kelley grins. “Duh, I plan on using that number.”

Alex laughs and feels that warmth again that Kelley tends to make her feel. “Good. I’ll see you around?”

Kelley nods. “I’ll see you at a game?”

“I’ll be at all of them.” Alex grins. “It’s kind of my job.”

“Right, right. Well I’ll let you get your cab. Bye, Alex.”

“Bye.”

Alex starts toward the taxi stand and as soon as she’s in a cab with her luggage, she hears her phone ring. She checks the caller ID but it’s a number she doesn’t recognize. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Kelley’s voice rings out through the phone. “Too soon?”

“I think you’re the most confident person I’ve ever met.”

Kelley laughs good-naturedly and bites her lip. “Well good thing, because I need it for this next question.”

“What?”

“Do you wanna go on a date sometime?” Kelley waits for only a beat of silence before continuing. “You totally don’t have to say yes and I’ll still set up the skype interview and everything. I was just,” she shrugs even though Alex can’t see her. “Wondering if you wanted to go out sometime.”

“Kell,” Alex starts, a small smile breaking out on her face. “I would love to go on a date with you.”

“Yeah?” Kelley asks, and it’s the least confident she’s sounded all night.

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! The book mention is a sneak peek at a different fic I'm writing that takes place in the same universe (and btw, Alex's inability to read it is a testament to how much she has the hots for Kelley, not how good the book is)  
> Please kudos and leave a comment if you liked this, thanks for reading <3 If you have any questions about the fic itself, the universe the fic is in, or any of my other works let me know on my main tumblr (crystxldunn) or my kellex tumblr w Marissa, who this is dedicated to (whatthekellex)


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